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User blog:ChazmanianDevil/Iron Man Review
Well I'm bored as hell and I just saw Doctor Strange, and I began thinking about which one is my favorite. I quickly realized I barley even remembered the older films, (most of the Iron Man's are just fused together in my mind. So I thought, I've got nothing better to do, why not? I'll rewatch every MCU movie in order of release, and write a review of each of them. (Yeah, I know, only my thought process works like that.) At the end I plan to finally rank them all, which will hopefully give me the answer to which is my favorite. The ratings are out of 100, and ranked in five categories. Characters, Plot, Dialogue, Aesthetic, and Lasting Impression. In characters, I rate the quality, acting, and development of the characters. In plot the complexity, quality, and moral value of the plot. In dialogue, well, the dialogue. Aesthetic covers set, music, effects, and choreography. Finally, lasting impression covers how much the movie affected me, how much I enjoyed it, how much of a lasting impression it left, etc. Hopefully I can use it as a balance category, to help iron out the kinks in an otherwise purely numerical system. So, with that lengthy exposition done, I guess I better start from the beginning. Now I'll be honest, I didn't have a great memory of this movie, I saw it twice, but both were years ago, and as I've said before, I couldn't really remember much about it. Having seen it again with fresh eyes, I can officially say that it is far better than I remembered. There's something about this movie that just has a rustic charm different from the rest of the MCU. This is marvel before it became the money making many headed Hydra analogue it is today. This is the MCU before all the complications, first testing it's legs, and then running.   Characters: With a great cast and many strong characters, both new, and from the comics, Iron Man does a great job of always at the very least keeping you entertained, usually more. Robert Downey Junior absolutely owns this as Stark. It's hard today to think of Iron Man without him in the suit, but remember when this movie was made it was a huge gambit. Iron Man from the comics was basically an asshole in tin, and if Downey Jr had failed, and the movie with him, that would have been it. But wow, did he do the exact opposite. (He made Stark a LOVEABLE asshole in tin!) After watching years of Stark competing with other high profile heroes for time in later MCU installments, it's honestly satisfying to seem him just own every moment. He's perfectly self-centered, arrogant, and egotistical, while still conveying just enough emotion to be charming and deep. He has great chemistry with everyone on set, even machines and automated voices. There's no two ways about it, from hem oment he appears on screen Stark is one of the best MCU protagonists. Now the MCU doesn't have a great track record with villains. Besides a select few, (Loki, Ultron, Loki, Zemo, Loki,) most of them tend to fit into a bland character mold, only there to develop the hero, and pretty much nonexistent after the one movie. So I see how it could be disappointing to watch Obadiah Stane after seeing so many villains like him. He fits neatly into both the corrupt, power-hungry businessman mold, which will be repeatedly overused. However it's important to note that Obadiah was actually the one who made this mold, and thus, in a way, MCU villains. All you have to do is check out all the dirty politicians and business owners, and evil space elves, (well, maybe not that last one, Malekith had more of an evil Spock vibe,) to see that they take influence from this guy and his Bin Laden beard. And out of all the corrupt, powerful humans, (and space elves), Stane is probably the best. Jeff Bridges manages to change from friendly but uncomfortable to menacing and dark in the seconds it takes you to yell at your mom and tell her to leave you alone because you're WATCHING A MOVIE! His scene with Pepper in particular is fraught with tension, and remains one of my favorite parts of the movie. In terms of side villain's Faran Tahir's Raza is an intimidating and impressive stand in for the first half of the movie, and a good counterpart to Stane, if a slightly undeveloped one. When it comes to side characters the cast is not packed, (which I feel may be a good thing having seen Age of Ultron,) but still very strong. Shaun Toub's Yinsen is probably my personal favorite side character. He has the task of being the only other real character for Stark to interact with for a good portion of the movie, and also gaining enough emotional investment so you can care about his death, and he passes both tests easily. I'm not sure if you even remember Rhodes was in this movie, I sure didn't, but Terrence Howard actually does an excellent job. Although he isn't the Cheadle Rhodes we all know and, (most of the time,) love, he has great chemistry with Downey Jr, and probably could have done some great things with the character in later movies if he hadn't been replaced. Coulson and Everheart are both excellent sides, with Coulson representing the firm yet secretive hand of the government, and Everheart the ever critical yet idealistic media. Gwyneth Paltrow's performance as Potts is really hit or miss, and to be fair a lot of it does hit. As I said before the tension between her and Obadiah is fantastic, and most of her scenes with Stark work well enough. However, during the climax her role starts to become really, really, cringeworthy. I get the feeling she may have been bogged down by the writing, but still, we'll see better performances later. Final verdict, Stark and Stane alone bring this pretty high, and are helped along by a good supporting cast. Maybe not the extreme character interactions that movies like Civil War would pull off later, but still, pretty impressive. 17/20   Plot: Like many superhero movies, MCU installments tend to suffer from extremely overcomplicated plots. On the bright side the plot of Iron Man is simple and effective. (Like Rhodes. XD Okay, I apologize, that was mean.) On the down side it lacks the complexity and intrigue of a Phase Three movie like Doctor Strange. (Unfortunately there were no giant planet people voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch in Iron Man.) There are also some logistical problems, like how easy it is to find the things in miles of giant desert and the how unnervingly quickly Stark gets back and forth between the US and the Middle East. Honestly though, compared to stuff like Iron Man 2 and it's magic diorama, or Dark World and Malekith's mysterious domination plot that I never really figured out, this movie is pretty clean. The plot is actually quite clever in that it immediately tosses you into the action, conveying the tension and pressure of the situation quite well. The whole part of the movie in the Ten Rings caves is very well done, and honestly could be a movie on it's own if it lasted for longer. The middle of the movie is also excellent, but in a slower, more reserved way. It conveys the web of intrigue that surrounds life as a star, using the ups and downs of business and the media, and builds up the tension towards the climax, all the while allowing Tony to become a superhero. In particular the way they illustrated Tony's first fighting encounter with the Ten Rings and Obadiah's meeting with Raza are both excellent scenes. Honestly all the build up is so well done it's not really a surprise the climax is a disappointment. I don't know why, but after the last Pepper-Obadiah scene the movie just loses some of it's appeal. I mean the climax is fine and all, but it's certainly not one of the best fight scenes we've seen in the MCU, and Pepper constantly screaming gets really tiring. Fortunately we finish off with a great scene, the press conference and the famous line, "I am Iron Man." And roll credits. (And then Avengers teaser after credits, but you know what I mean.) Final verdict? A strong beginning and excellent middle but a lacking climax. Iron Man has a very unique plot compared to most of the MCU, as they hadn't really found their rhythm yet. In some places this takes away, but in most it allows for more creativity and an emotionally engaging movie. 16/20   Dialogue: Iron Man is all around a strong movie, but this is where it truly shines. The dialogue is fluent and effective, and every line just builds and adds upon the last. Stark's writing is absolutely spectacular, switching between charming, arrogant, witty, emotional and deep with ease. This is some of the best material Robert Downey Jr. is given in the MCU and he knocks it out of the park. The writing for Stane should also be praised, perfectly capturing the friendly menace that is lacking in later copies. The contrast in writing between Rhodes and Stark is also nice, while Stark and Yinsen have their own connection. (I ship it.) Though I will never get over Pepper screaming, "But you'll die!", she did have some very good writing, particularly the scene with Obadiah, and the conversations with Coulson were well done as well. Probably the best scene to indicate the excellent dialogue to come is at the very beginning, with Stark conversing with some shy and awestruck soldiers. It's just perfect. So final verdict... This is a very good movie for dialogue. It's something the MCU has always done well with and Iron Man started that trend. 19/20   Aesthetic: Now it might lose some points here. It's not that Iron Man has a bad aesthetic, but it just isn't on the level of some of the other movies in the MCU. (Again, no Cumberbatch space demon.) In terms of set it does pretty well. The move switches between two areas, the dark, grimy look of the Ten Rings hideout and Middle Eastern villages, and the shiny, elegant atmosphere of Stark's mansion and the upper areas of Los Angeles. (Los Angeles? I think it's Los Angeles. It's some big destructible city anyway.) Both are perfect, with the look of Stark's home becoming absolutely iconic. However the caves where Stark is held captive are probably my favorite. They perfectly fit the dark and gloomy tone, and convey the desperation and cold unforgivingness of Stark and Yinsen's situation. You can tell they spent a lot of time on even suits as well. The Mark I looks ragged and scrappy as if it was made out of spare car parts, which it basically was. The Mark II and III are sleek and professional, fine tuned and with a certain fitness. Finally the Iron Monger suit is simply a beast, monstrous and hulking, (heh, hulking, see what I did there?), designed to crush anything in it's way. So no problems there. The music is also excellent, especially when Stark is testing the suit. When it comes to effects, well, there are no problems with what's shown, but what's shown isn't really that much. It's basically the minimum of effects for a marvel movie, which you might either find refreshing or disappointing. (WHERE ARE THE SPACE DEMONS?!?) Although the sequence that puts the suit on him is just plain fun to watch. It also loses points when it comes to battles. When Stark is going up against Ten Rings members in a group, those are the battle sequences that shine. Most of the other ones however just fall pretty short. The part with the planes was surprisingly dull for a scene about jets trying to shoot an armored man out of the sky. And the climax... The climax... It's not that the climax fight scene was awful, it wasn't, I have just come to expect so much more from marvel it's kind of sad looking back. Most of it consists of two giant metal men floating while hugging or rolling around on a roof while Gwyneth Paltrow screams. Maybe I'm being unfair, after all I did just watch Doctor Strange a few days ago, but still, a climax can make or break a movie, and while this isn't doesn't break it, it does somewhat detract. Final verdict? Well, at least no one could accuse the movie of overdoing anything. Most of the time it's got a pretty nice, more grounded look, but occasionally it's blatantly obvious how much the effects and choreography have evolved. 13/20   Lasting Impression: It's a somewhat lazy criticism of superhero movies that they're all the same. It's true they tend to have problems with molds and stereotypes, but each is a being of it's own, with a very different tone. Antman and Guardians of the Galaxy, both very different movies, were both great in their own way. In the same way Iron Man has it's own tone that differentiates it from all the others. This movie has bucketloads of rustic charm, and it's less about a guy who fights terror in a metal suit and more about Tony Stark, a genius billionaire who has it all and yet has only scratched the surface. It's a movie about the political intrigue of upper class life, the businesses, the government, the media, and trying through all that to do the right thing. It's not spectacular, but still quite good. Final verdict, it's got a lot of charm but won't be one of those that leaves a really lasting impression. Still definitely worth a rewatch. 15/20   Final Score: 80% Next Time: Iron Man's lame younger brother. Category:Blog posts